Western reviews of the title have been mixed to positive: review aggregate sites GameRankings and Metacritic gave it scores of 76.77% and 77/100 based on 22 and 23 critic reviews respectively.[61][62] The gameplay was a general point of praise. RPGFan's John McCarroll said that its various elements "tie together to provide a cohesive battle experience that's quite enjoyable" despite him finding it inferior to Tales of Graces, and Destructoid's Kyle MacGregor said that the experience "can be quite fun".[67][70] Hardcore Gamer '​s Adam Beck said that the combat "works perfectly on the handheld system", while Kimberley Wallace of Game Informer said that the pace and various features "help keep [the battles] exciting."[68][65] Andrew Fitch of Electronic Gaming Monthly was more mixed about the gameplay, citing the combat as a less smooth experience compared to previous Tales titles and being annoyed at the reintroduction of random encounters, a feature not present in the original Hearts.[66]

The story received a generally mixed response. Beck found the characters to be a mixed assortment, being particularly unimpressed with Kohaku's condition through most of the game and stating that her awkward romance with Kor "almost feels forced".[68] Wallace referred to the storyline as "cheesy and campy", stating that it didn't impress her despite it not being taken very seriously.[65] McCarrol was unimpressed by the story or the cast, while MacGregor cited the story as "a slow-burn", though commenting that the cast succeeded in seeming like real people rather than character archetypes.[67][70] In contrast with the other reviewers, Fitch generally enjoyed the story, calling it one of the stronger casts and narratives of recent Tales titles.[66] The localization received some criticism over discrepancies between the English text and Japanese dialogue, with Fitch describing it as "written with an ultimately canceled English dub in mind", and McCarrol citing the renaming of some characters despite the presence of the original Japanese as a downside.[66][70] MacGregor, while not minding the setup, was concerned that the lack of an English option would cause controversy.[67] Todd Ciolek of Anime News Network listed the game as the second most overlooked title from 2014, stating that its release mediums and close proximity to the release of Tales of Xillia 2 hampered its notability.[56]

Sorry, nobody leaked Tales of Hearts R's sales figures on Neogaf from what I can tell, but then again, I can't tell you what percent of Vita game sales are physical anyways, even though it's the only way I play games.

For the Vita in the west, it may have done okay, especially since they didn't have to pay voice actors.